Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to let ds have long hair?

106 replies

beaniesinthebucketagain · 20/10/2009 19:19

PFB Ds is 26mnths, until he was one he had 2 inches of white hair stood on end, he looked like a dandelion clock, that was cute, everyone loved it, now its long and floppy everyone has something to say!

family members saying hell need it tied up for nursery, thinking its funny to try plaiting it and so on.

A Complete stranger told me ill damage him making him look like a girl! Had another older lady say to her friend 'someone wanted a girl' I have a dd she is 10mnths, granted she is bald, but that has nothing to do with his hair!

Me and dp love his hair, and personally i dont think he looks girly.

Why does everyone think all boys need a short back and sides, am i alone on this one, are longer hair boys so rare?

this is ds with long hair is that really so unacceptable?

OP posts:
thesecondcoming · 20/10/2009 22:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TrickOrNinks · 20/10/2009 22:16

My DS had bouncy ringlets until he was two and he had to have it cut in stages, day by day for a fecking week until it was done, he screamed so much.

The curls have gone forever now and he has a blonde Boris Johnson mop except it is really ruly, it just falls right into place no matter what. It's getting in his eyes though so I have to get the front trimmed.

My mum's hairdresser won't do that style, it have to be shaved because she thinks, "boys should look like boys", WTF? How many girls does she see with short hair and penises?

madamearcati · 20/10/2009 22:17

All the boys round here have longer hair . personally like shorter hair (too long to be done with clippers but not floppy, but my DS's moan so much about how they'll be called chav thAT I just let them have it longer they are 14 and 11.

lovemybabyboy · 20/10/2009 22:27

YANBU there is nothing wrong with having long hair! and I agree with you that it is very annoying when people think all males should have a short back and sides hair cut. Your DS is very cute and his hair looks absolutely gorgeous!

Original poster
beaniesinthebucketagain · 20/10/2009 23:18

cant remember who said about a trim, he has about a cm off the back when the fringe is done, its actually in need this week i think!

OP posts:
Original poster
beaniesinthebucketagain · 20/10/2009 23:20

i didnt mean to post yet, gah!

The swim pic is only last weekend!

I Have a friend whos a hairdresser, she knows id turn her scissors on her if she commented on my choice of style for him, let alone if she messed it up!

OP posts:
MonstrousMerryHenry · 20/10/2009 23:30

I generally think long hair on boys and men looks naff. But on your pic of your DS, I wouldn't call that long - and he does look very cute.

Loads of boys have long hair these days, and if he doesn't do it now, he will when he's 14 - though it will also be lank and greasy.

carocaro · 20/10/2009 23:33

Where do you live, Up North or Down South?

I only say that because DS1 aged 2.5 has wild white blonde curly locks, only recently cut, a trim, to shape it a bit more, it's fabulous! So fabulous I get stopped in the street!

Anyway, in Brighton over the Summer (3 weeks there) not one person mistook him for a girl, we live in Cheshire, a the North seems to be the home of the crew cut for kids and he often gets mistaken for a girl, whilst wearing Thomas t-shirts, rolling around in the muck with a toy gun HA HA!

It seems Southerners have a more laid back vibe for boys hair, lots of long haired boys! DS2 aged has longish hair, just about OK for school and he never gets nits!

I often used special blonde camomile shampoo on them, which really makes them zing, nuts I know, but I used to give the cats (RIP) Evian in Wedgwood bowls, this all pre-kids of course!

He does look like a blonde Art Garfunkel when he wakes some mornings!

Bleenherbe · 20/10/2009 23:36

My DS won't have his hair cut and it is not disimilar to1.bp.blogspot.com/_0IFtjfhQtQs/SpFgM3ieJMI/AAAAAAAAAKI/qBEHzTidluM/s400/Janis+Joplin.jpg. It is much admired by girls in his class and he is notable figure in our neighbourhood.

carocaro · 20/10/2009 23:36

He is gorgeous and it's not even that long!

Bleenherbe · 20/10/2009 23:36

Bah failed link - think Janis Joplin.

carocaro · 20/10/2009 23:37

how do you ad a pic?

sarah293 · 21/10/2009 07:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

izzybiz · 21/10/2009 08:09

Where we live (south) lots of boys have long hair, it seems to be "the" thing at the moment!

My Ds2 is only a year old but he has longish hair, his grandads keep saying they're going to take him to the barbers for a proper boys hair cut!

He only one and hes had it cut 4 times already!

(I am known for my hairy babies!)

stressedHEmum · 21/10/2009 09:05

My DS4 (6yo) has long hair and always has. At one point it was almost at his waist. HE now has a sort of surfer type, raggy cut, but it still touches his shoulders. we endure constant comments from everyone about it. Even our doctor told me that he had to get his hair cut or it would damage him in some way! However, he doen't want to have little hair, he acts like a boy, looks like a boy and dresses like a boy, so it is only foolish people who like to make stereotypical assumptions who would think that he was a girl.

All my boys have quite long hair, actually. My 19yo has a collar length layer thing going on, my 17yo has beautiful, jet black curls and my 12 year old has hair a bit like your DS but, obviously, much thicker and a bit longer. No one ever comments on their hair, only on the little one's.

I wouldn't bother with other people, to be honest. If your DS is happy then who cares, really.

2babyblues · 21/10/2009 09:46

Aww, he looks lovely. My youngest who is nearly 3 still has long hair, it is blond and curly and I don't want to cut it off, I love it!! My oldest used to also have similar hair and I only cut it when he started school. There is a photo of my grandad when he was about 3 and he had the exact same hair as my son (that must have been 93 years ago now!).

worldgonemad72 · 21/10/2009 09:51

How cute is he, he looks lovely, dont get it cut. He doesn't look girly at all.
My ds is only 5 1/2 months old but i want him have long hair when he's bigger.

Sunshinemummified · 21/10/2009 10:00

My DS also has long hair and we sometimes get the girl comments but mostly we get told how cool it looks. We love it but we will cut it if he asks. He's 3.8.

thedollshouse · 21/10/2009 10:11

My ds is 5 and has the "Surfer dude" cut that Ramonaquimby dislikes. He has always had longish hair (currently collar length) and it really suits him. The only negative comments come from mothers with daughthers, I have no idea why.

Whatever is going on my friend will use his hair as the excuse. Some older boys were calling ds names (nothing to do with his hair, some of the namecallers had longer hair) and my friend suggested that it was probably because of his hair. The other day ds was being naughty and I said to my friend that I was finding it tiresome as I am pregnant, she said if I cut his hair he would behave because he will look smarter . Most people have commented that his hair cut looks cool and they have said they couldn't imagine him with short back and sides. I wish those those with negative opinions would keep them to themselves especially as I haven't asked for their views!

Fennel · 21/10/2009 10:18

Round here (surfer territory) loads of boys (little boys and teenagers) have long hair. It's very normal.

When we lived in Manchester (til 3 years ago) they all had short hair by the time they were two, I never saw one with long hair. I have never quite worked out if the longer hair trend came in during these last few years or if Devon boys have different hair and fashions to Manchester boys.

baskingseals · 21/10/2009 10:21

YANBU - he looks really sweet. Ds1 2yo, has long hair. People do call him She [we live in Norfolk], but I don't really mind. The only person who's been a bit about it is surprize surprize MIL, which to me is an added bonus.

upahill · 21/10/2009 10:25

Leave his hair alone. Even with the extra 1 1/2 inch length it's not that long.

People don't 'arf interfere!!!

My DS1 has his dead short but DS (10) loves his long. He didn't get it cut from april 2008 until September this year. Even then he only had it cut to his collar. Once I made the ill judged comment about him being mistaken for a girl and he roared back 'I am a boy. I know what I am. long hair doesn't make you a girl!! ' Fair point I thought and left him to get on with it. It started to look a bit unkempt so we persuaded him to have a trim before he went back to school and he was gutted. I didn't have the heart to tell him I didn't like it either. He always makes sure he puts conditioner on and no problems!!!
If his school were to object that would be fair enough and he would then get it cut but until then..........

TaurielTest · 21/10/2009 10:38

Am buoyed up by this thread! DS's hair is now a little wavy blond mullet and were getting a few grandparently hints about getting the scissors out.
DP and I like it though, and he's happy to let me comb the back after I brush his teeth, to stop him getting mini-dreadlocks (think I'll keep that in his routine after reading the nits comments above) - so it's staying for as long as he wants it. [nyer nyer emoticon].

Original poster
beaniesinthebucketagain · 21/10/2009 12:15

were in east anglia, go to 4-5 groups a week and hes the only one with hair with any length!

Completely agree with pp who said its mums of girls who are the most 'against' the long hair on boys, Its often joined with a comment that i wanted a girl, because the baby in buggy dressed in pink is a boy because shes bald!

alot of my friends adore his hair and people around town say its gorgeous, but im stupid and ive took more note of the negative!

OP posts:
PlumpkinScaryBaps · 21/10/2009 12:33

Crikey I thought I was going to see a pic of a boy with hair halfway down to his bum or something! His hair's not long at all.And he's really cute.

Ds2 has long(ish) hair but that's because when it gets a bit longer it goes curly like his dad's and I love it . But it's not past his shoulders.

I only have issues with long hair on boys if it looks dirty, gets in their eyes and/or interferes with life in general for them.

Ds1 had just recently started refusing haircuts- until a month ago he was a strict 'short back and sides' kind of kid. Looks like times are a-changing.....

Swipe left for the next trending thread